Portable loader



June 26, 1923. 1,460,172

N. P. NELSON PORTABLE LD ADER Filed Sept. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ale/5 F Ne/son Gimme a v ,C/

June 26, 1923.

N. P. NELSON PORTABLE LOADER Filed Sent. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 M3 atkozwng Patented June 26,- 1923.

'ETED STATES ATE NELS P. NELSON, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

PORTABLE LOADER.

Application filed September 3, 1921. Serial No. 498,532.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, NELS P. NELSON, citizen of the United States of America, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Loaders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the construction of portable loaders in which the collecting and elevating of materials are effected by a single conveyor chain; and the objects of my improvements are primarily to simplify the construction of such devices whereby considerable saving in the weight of parts and in the power required to opcrate the machine is made possible; and sec- 0nd, to provide a single continuous conveyor chain so arranged that the latter will first collect the material to be loaded at the entrance of an inclined chute and then by the continuous movement of the chain to elevat-e the collected material to the discharge end of the chute; and third, to afford facilities for adjusting the relative positions of the collector and elevator mechanisms and to provide for the folding of the collector frame and adjacent portion of the conveyor into substantially parallel alignment with the elevator itself.

The invention consists in novel features of construction and arrangement of parts. as hereinafter fully described and illustratively exemplified in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Fig. 1 is a substantially longitudinal sectional view through my improved. loader showing the collector and elevator frames in operative position.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the loader as it would appear in portable position.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the lower end portion of the elevator and collcctor frames showing the automatically adjustable mounting for the collector frame.

Fig. 4 is a substantially transverse sectional view taken on the lines 4-4.- of Fig. 1, and showing the position of the conveyor chain and its flights in the trough of the elevator.

Referring to the drawings, 10 denotes a rectangular bed frame supported at its forward end by a suitably mounted caster. l1 and at its rearward end on a pair of wheels 12. Mounted transversely of the frame 10 adjacent the rear end thereof and slightly frame 14 to be removed from the pivotal support the bearings 1.6 are provided with re'movable bearing caps 16 Mounted in and projecting through the opposite ends of thebore of the hollow shaft 13 is a second shaft 17 which carries a spur gear 18 at one end thereof and outside of the hear ing 15 between the latter and the wheel 12.

This gear 18 meshes with a pinion 19 mount-- ed on the shaft-2O of a motor 21. The op: posite end of the shaft 17 is provided with a sprocket wheel 22 which drives a sprocket chain 23 running between the. former and the upper end of the tilting frame 1 1. In order to adjust the inclination of the tilting frame 1a and to secure the latter in position after adjustment a turn sleeve 24 is provided, the opposite ends-of which receive the free ends of screws 25 and 26 pivoted at their opposite ends to the frames 10 and 14 respectively. i

The tilting frame itself comprises a substantially V shaped strut 145 secured at its opposite ends to the sides of a channel ironor trough 27 and supported centrally thereof by the brackets 15 riveted at their upper ends to the sides of the trough 27.

As illustrated in Fig. 4, the trough 27 is constructed of a flat bottom portion having upstanding outwardly inclined side walls provided with outwardly projecting flanges substantially parallel with the plane of the bottom portion. Angle pieces 28 are secured to the flanges of the trough 27 and extend beneath the flanges and then upwardly to provide side walls for the trough. Hinged.

to the discharge end of the trough 27 and capable of arcuate movement about the edge of the bottom portion is a discharge chute 29 the hinged end of which is provided with extensions of its side walls which abut the end edges of the trough 27. The chute 29 is held in operative position by collapsible rods 30 pivoted at their free ends to the sides of the trough, a short distance forto fold the chute against the trough, as shown inFig. 2, the rods or links 30 may be collapsed. The opposite or lower end of ward of the hinge, so that when it is desired the trough terminates in a hardened steel toe 31 placed transversely of the trough and at an inclination to the axis of the trough itself so that when the tilting frame is in operative position, as shown in Fig. 1, the toe will be held substantially parallel with the ground line.

Located slightly above the-toe 31 and pivoted in the slotted openings 32 of the cheek plates 33 is one end of a collector frame 34 which is adapted to project outwardly at an angle to the trough 27 and to be held in position by means of a cable 35 attached at .one end to the collector frame and at the opposite end to the drum or reel 36' of a windlass 37. The Windlass 37 is mounted on the tilting frame 14 about midway of its length and in order to facilitate the movement of the drum 36 a suitable crank handle 38 is provided. The pivotal mounting for the collector frame 34 comprises a transversely disposed shaft 39b'earing at its opposite ends in the open ended slots 32 in the cheek plates 33. The platesthemselves are made of flat stock and riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to the opposite sides of the trough 27. The angle of the slots 32 with relation to the axisof thetrough 27 is slightly more than 90 from the forward end of the trough; this mechanical feature is of importance when taken with reference to the operation of the several associated parts, as hereinafter described. Movable arcuately about the shaft 39 and adjacent the cheek plates 33 are the parallel angle bars 40 which are virtually the body portion of the collector proper. The outer ends of these bars 40 are joined to the opposite ends of a shaft 41 which is substantially at right angles to the bars'and parallel to the shaft 39. The bars 40, may be provided with strengthening pieces adapted to more rigidly hold the rods or bars in position.

Mounted at the upper end of the tilting frame 14 and above the discharge end of the trough 27 is a third shaft 42 journaled in suitable bearings-43. One end of this shaft 42 extends beyond its bearing to receive a sprocket wheel 44 about which one end of the drive chain 23 engages. Power transmitted from the chain 23 to the shaft 42 turns a drive sprocket wheel 45 mounted centrally of this shaft 42 and intermediate the opposite walls of the trough 27. This sprocket wheel 45 in turn carries one end of a continuous conveyor chain 46 provided with a series of flights 47 projecting outwardly from the chain and adapted to be substantially the same shape as the cross section of the trough through which they travel. The travel of the chain 46 leads the flights 47 depending into the channel of the trough throughout the entire length of the latter. The links of this chain 46 as they approach the mouth of the trough 27 are guided between the flanges of a wheel 48 loosely mounted on the shaft 39 and aligned with the sprocket wheel 45. The chain travels to the wheel 48 from a similar flanged wheel 49 also loosely mounted on the shaft 41 at the outer end of the collector frame 34. With reference to Fig. 1, it will be noted that in operative position the returning portion of thechain from the sprocket wheel 42 to the flanged wheel 48 is partially supported by an idler roller 50 mounted on a shaft 51 carried in suitable standards 52 secured to the angle pieces 28 of the trough 27. The length of the conveyor chain 46 is sufficient to permit a slack portion to come between the roller '50 and the flanged wheel 48 and the amount of slack in the chain will be determined by the position of the collector frame with relation to the trough 27 The operation of the invention is as follows :--Assuming the machine to be in the portable position shown in Fig. 2., it will be necessary in order to place the tilting frame 14 and collector frame 34 in workable position to first rotate the turn sleeve 23 about the screws 25 and 26 to rock the tilting frame 14 about its pivot 13 until the toe 31 has been brought into contact with the ground. The collector frame 34 is then swung about its pivot 39 by releasing the Windlass 37 and gradually lowering the outer end of the bars 40 until the adjacent flights 47 engage the top or side of the pile of material to be loaded, whereupon the drum of the windlass is secured from further rotation and the collector frame remains stationary. The chute 29 may then be moved outwardly and into position, a shown in Fig. 1

Power supplied by the motor 21 drives the sprocket chain 23 and shaft 42 whereupon the conveyor chain 46 will traverse the trough 27 in the general direction of the arrow A. Material engaged by the flights 47 will be pushed towards the toe 31 and into the mouth of the trough where the advancing flight will continue to pushthe collected material up the inclined trough to the discharge end and into the chute 29 where a truck or other receptacle may be in position to receive the material.

In operation it has been found necessary to provide an automatically adjustable mechanism whereby the conveyor chain 46 may be moved relative to the mouth of the trough in case a large piece of material becomes clogged between the flights 47 and the bottom wall of the trough. This difliculty has been overcome by the provision of the slotted bearings 32 in the following manner: Assuming that a flight in its travel towards the toe 31 has picked up a rock too large to enter the mouth of the trough below the flanged whee 48 the natural tendency of the chain will V2 to tighten between the sprocket a5 and the flanged wheel .48; this of said tilting frame and at the other end movement will causethe wheel't8 to ride outwardly with the shaft 39 which is free to move axially of the slots 82. Immedi ately the piece ofimaterial has passed the heel 48 the latter will again drop back to. its initial positionandthe flight will carry the material up the chute in the .usual manner. The possibilityoffthe shaft 39 becoming disengaged from t-he slots 32 during the outward movement of theformer is very slight, first, because in practice the slots are six or more inches indepth which permit the flights to move substantially out of the trough before the shaft will leave the slots; and second, because of the inwardly directed force of the collector against the elevator being so great that almost any ordinary material would be crushed beneath the weight or the power used for operation would not be sufficient to lift the chain and collector frame the height of the slots 32. The arrangement of the slots 32 with respect to the direction of the pull on the chain 46 is such that while the pull is always directed in a substantially vertically disposed line the.

axes of the slots 32 never assume a similar alignment unless the machine is in closed position as shown in Figure 2. Therefore, it will be noted that any outward movement of the collector frame with respect to the elevator frame during operation of the parts will be directed against the resistance offered by the differences of the axes of the slots and the normal outward movement of the shaft.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a portable loader of the character described, a pivotally supported elevator frame, a collector frame loosely and adjust ably supported at one end of said elevator frame, and a continuous conveyor adapted to traverse the length of said collector and elevator frames.

2. In a portable loader of the character described, a pivotally supported elevator frame comprising a trough provided with one end closed, a collector frame loosely and pivotally supported at one end of said trough, and a conveyor having a series of flights mounted thereon, said conveyor adapted to traverse the trough of said ele- 'vator and the length of said collector frame.

3. In a portable loader of the character described, a platform, a tilting frame pivot ally mounted on said platform, said tilting frame being provided with a trough extending axially thereof, open ended slotted bearings adjacent one end of said tilting frame, an adjustable collector frame pivotally mounted in said slotted bearings, means for moving said collector frame arcuately of the slotted bearings, and a continuous conveyor supported at one end adjacent the upper end "end of said elevator.

1 4-,. In aportable, loader of the character described a portable platform, a tilting. frame pivotally supportedon saidplatform,

meansfor adjusting the position of said tilt- 111g? frame w th relation to said platform, a

trough carried axially of said tilting frame, 1

a collector frame pivotally supported at one end adjacent to the lower end of said trough, means for adjusting the position of the collector frame relative to said trough, a con tinuous conveyor chain having a series of flights mounted thereon and adapted to traverse the collector frame and then the trough, and a triangular support for said conveyor, whereby the flights of said conveyor may first push the material to be loaded toward the trough and then by continuous movement push the load throughou the length of said trough.

5. In a portable loader of the character described, the combination with a loosely mounted adjustable elevator frame, of an adjustable collector frame, and a continuous conveyor chain adapted to travel over said collector andsaid elevator frames.

6. In a portable loader, the combination of a pair of open ended bearings, and an adjustable collector frame having one of its ends loosely journaled in said slotted bearln s whereb said collector frame ma be moved at an angle away from said bearings.

7. In a portable loader, the combination of an adjustable elevator, said'elevator be ing provided with a toe at one end thereof and an angularly disposed chute at the opposite end, means for collapsing said chute to lie substantially parallel to said elevator, a pair of open ended slotted bearing plates carried by said elevator closely adjacent said toe, a collector pivotally mounted at one end in said slotted bearings, a conveyor having a seriesof flights projecting outwardly at an angle thereto, said collector being capable of both arcuate and angular movement with relation to said elevator.

8. In a portable loader, the combination of a continuous conveyor chain, flights mounted on said chain, a triangular support for said chain, and slotted means to receive the intermediate support whereby two of said supports may be moved axially to gether or one arcuately of one another, whereby said conveyor may be raised arcuately at one endor axially of said last named supports.

9. In a portable loader, the combination of a continuous conveyor, a triangular support for said conveyor, means whereby two of said supports may be moved arcuately of the third support, and a slotted bearing to receive the third support, whereby the latter 11. In a portableloader, the combination of an elevator frame and a collector frame loosely and pivotally supported at one end thereof, a continuous conveyor for said elevator and collector frames, means whereby said elevator may be rocked to a, substanti'ally horizontal position, and means-wheres by said collector frame may be moved about its pivot to lie in substantially parallel relation with said elevator frame,

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

NELS P. NELSON. 

